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Thread: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

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    Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    [very long ramble alert]

    O.K. Just back from a day at the SFMOMA where they have three--count them--photography exhibits up, not counting the one room installment of the painfully named "Picturing Modernity."

    A few random thoughts.

    Avedon exhibit. I saw another Avedon exhibit a few weeks ago in San Diego. A little of Avedon goes a long way. Repeated viewings sort of diminish the work at first but then it sort of stabilizes. I still love the photo of the model with the elephants--my favorite fashion photo, I think--but not much else struck me. Even the kids found it repetitive.

    I know many people on this board are interested in print quality so I will share this. The show was very uneven, print quality-wise. This was no Ansel Adams show. Some were very good. Some not so good. One was astonishingly bad. This was a large image of Marian Anderson.

    Here is a link to remind you: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/phev/ho_61.565.2.htm

    The link shows a print with slightly more shadow detail than I've seen before and more than what is typically reproduced in books, etc. The print at the show went far to the other extreme. The background, white in other versions, was a midtone. The shadows over the singer's face were extensive and deep--hard to see her mouth, for example. It had a dingy look, overall. Appeared to my eye to be a test print gone wrong and salvaged from the trash. I'm not kidding.

    On to the next show. Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe.

    The O'Keefe works were interesting but my attention (and that of the crowd, it seems) kept getting drawn to the photos.

    While the show is billed as having Adams photos--which it certainly does--it also has work by a number of other photogs: Ed Weston, Brett Weston, Paul Strand, Stieglitz.

    They have a Pepper No. 30. That was a treat. Haven't seen one in a few years.

    The basic premise of the show is the interaction of O'Keefe and Adams and their influences on each others work.

    For some reason I had thought that Strand's photo of Rancho Taos (not in this show) predated Ansel's, but googling it seems that Ansel's is dated 1929 and Strand 1931. I know these dates are open to question--I had thought this was one of the images Ansel saw that made him decide on photography--if so then that raises an interesting question about whether seeing an image by him that was similar--better?--than Strands was a factor. But I'm digressing.

    The show had many familiar Adams images, not too heavy on the iconic ones, which is good. They had one series that I was completely unaware of before this show--a three panel set entitled "Snow Sequence"--I guess sort of akin to Surf Sequence.

    Lots of good stuff in this show beyond what I am (poorly) describing.

    Finally, Robert Frank.

    I have a confession to make. I can't recall if I ever seen "The Americans." I suspect I have in my youth--spent many days at the library pouring over photo books--but I can't specifically recall it. I've seen many of the images, again and again, over the years but maybe not the actual book, nor all of the images in sequence.

    Second confession. I almost always seemed to encounter Frank's work with bozo commentary that seemed to indicate that he was not so much being critical of what he found. I found that to be b.s. and assumed the b.s. started with Frank.

    I ended up having a negative view of his work. I considered him vastly overrated.

    Well, that changed at the exhibit today. The show wasn't just "The Americans" but a great deal of material leading up to it plus contact sheets, grant applications, work prints, etc. A real show.

    "The Americans" is presented in sequence with largish prints.

    Lots of great stuff here. Critical, yes. Witty, yes. Overhyped, yes, but excellent if you approach it fresh. Do what I do and ignore all the text panels (or at least only glance at them to see if they are worth reading).

    Quite a treat!

    I think the exhibit of "The Americans" is better than the book. Reproduction quality is low on the book and much detail, sometimes important, gets lost.

    I'm running out of stream here...

    See this show...

    --Darin

    PS. After the Frank show there is a small room of permanent collection images. A few Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, Garry Winograd (yuk), a forgettable image by Nan Goldin, Bill Owens...

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    Re: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    Avedon took the same body of work and repeated used it in various books he's published, so his work does get repetitive. Avedon considered "Dovima and the Elephants" a photographic failure. He changed the way we see fashion, and turned the face into a landscape.

    Robert Frank confronted the myth of 1950s America head on. The world was awash in Cold War propaganda of why American or Russia was better. Mainstream publications such as Look and Life was complicate in this debate. All of a sudden along come this Swiss German who shows us the Emperor has no clothes. I enjoyed the Frank exhibit while it was in Washington DC. The best way to see the work is reviewing his contact sheets.

    Georgia O'Keefe had a love hate relationship with her critics. All the critics could see was female anatomy in her flower paintings, which O'Keefe dismissed as the workings of the male mind, but she also used this myth to promote sales. Guess she laughed all the way to the bank.

    I hated Garry Winogrand for decades until I saw the 1964 exhibit (and purchased the book). He is a logical step after Robert Frank. He threw away the decisive moment, and the Life magazine photo essay, and explored the world as simply "light reflecting off surface." He was a photographic existentialist.
    When I grow up, I want to be a photographer.

    http://www.walterpcalahan.com/Photography/index.html

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    Re: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    In case you are interested here's a link to a Robert Frank interview on Bob Edwards Weekend radio show:

    http://www.bobedwards.info/ftopic844...66fb2a6bc7eb74

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    Re: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    "For some reason I had thought that Strand's photo of Rancho Taos (not in this show) predated Ansel's, but googling it seems that Ansel's is dated 1929 and Strand 1931. I know these dates are open to question--I had thought this was one of the images Ansel saw that made him decide on photography . . . . "

    I thought Adams talked about seeing Strands' negatives - not any one print - as being the source of inspiration. But that's from memory, too lazy to look it up.

    Sounds like a great exhibit, wish I could see it, especially Robert Franks' work. I've seen nothing of his other than "The Americans," which surely must rank as the single most influential photography book of the 20th century. I've always thought of Avedon as a great fashion photographer but his other work mostly leaves me cold. I did enjoy the "Darkness and Light" video though.
    Brian Ellis
    Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you do criticize them you'll be
    a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

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    Re: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    Quote Originally Posted by Chuck Pere View Post
    In case you are interested here's a link to a Robert Frank interview on Bob Edwards Weekend radio show:

    http://www.bobedwards.info/ftopic844...66fb2a6bc7eb74
    A FANTASTIC link, Chuck. Particularly his comment at the end about making movies vs photography. Thanks for posting it.
    Wilhelm (Sarasota)

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    Re: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Ellis View Post
    "For some reason I had thought that Strand's photo of Rancho Taos (not in this show) predated Ansel's, but googling it seems that Ansel's is dated 1929 and Strand 1931. I know these dates are open to question--I had thought this was one of the images Ansel saw that made him decide on photography . . . . "

    I thought Adams talked about seeing Strands' negatives - not any one print - as being the source of inspiration. But that's from memory, too lazy to look it up.

    Sounds like a great exhibit, wish I could see it, especially Robert Franks' work. I've seen nothing of his other than "The Americans," which surely must rank as the single most influential photography book of the 20th century. I've always thought of Avedon as a great fashion photographer but his other work mostly leaves me cold. I did enjoy the "Darkness and Light" video though.
    Those dates are correct for the respective Rancho de Taos photographs. Ansel was in New Mexico working on the Taos Pueblo book when he met Strand in 1930. As Brian correctly recalls, all that Strand had to show at the meeting was a box of 4x5 negatives, no prints. Ansel later wrote that his time with Strand on that occasion convinced him to choose the camera over the piano.

    Darin, that is quite a display of photography currently at SFMOMA. Too much, in my opinion, for a single viewing; I plan to return and have a better look at the Frank exhibit. I didn't really think that the Adams/O'Keefe connection was very convincing, other than the fact that they were good friends.

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    Re: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    >>I didn't really think that the Adams/O'Keefe connection was very convincing, other than the fact that they were good friends.<<

    I normally never use the headphone things at museums but my daughter had one and she asked me to listen to a few--the ones I heard seemed hesitant to make a strong connection, too! The narrator would point out that the dates were close, remind the viewer that Adams wasn't so good on dates, and talk about superficial similarities between two images of the same subject.

    That's what brought up the Strand issue, in my mind. In my memory (obviously flawed!) I had Strand showing Adams his negs (including this image) before Adams made his image. Thus, in that scenario, Adams made it perfectly aware that Strand did one from the same spot (seems to be a popular spot--A quick google search found a similar shot by Cartier-Bresson!). The point being that the real connection for the show's cover image was Strand --> Adams, who knows about O'Keefe.

    Still correct, of course, but so much cleaner--and easier to explain to non-photogs-- if the neg dates are reordered Drats.

    --Darin

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    Re: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    If you can ever get your hands on a first edition of The Americans, it is the most beautifully printed book. The reproductions are not flat but silvery, and actually quite lush in a way. When I was in school, they had them in the library, and I thought I should just check it out, "lose it," and just pay the fine, but my conscience got the better of me... They're worth a ton now!

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    Re: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    O'Keeffe.

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    Re: Avedon, Adams, (O'Keefe), and Robert Frank

    Quote Originally Posted by William McEwen View Post
    O'Keeffe.
    I make so many typos that doesn't even qualify for a typo. My best one on that post was when I noticed I had about half of the "Robert Frank" mentions as "Robert Franks." I hope I caught them all.

    --Darin

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